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Written by Calvin Stovall (@CalvinStovall)
Approximately two years ago, Jonny Shipes, President of Cinematic Music Group and manager to Big K.R.I.T. and Smoke DZA, stumbled upon web footage of a 15-year-old kid named JayOhVEE spitting advanced-placement rhymes. Impressed, Shipes contacted ...

At a whopping 4,293 words, Chuck Philips’ guest blog in The Village Voice was a lengthy read to say the least. The publication gave the former Los Angeles Times investigative reporter, who thoroughly investigated the murders of Tupac Shakur and ...

Trina is being accused of no-showing at a scheduled performance in St. Louis and pocketing the show money anyway.
TMZ is reporting that it has obtained several letters sent to the rapstress by the promoter’s lawyers and according to the documents, ...

NEWS HEADLINES THAT MATTER TO THE HIP-HOP COMMUNITY…
50 CENT: Releases The Lost Tape Mixtape
After great anticipation and one delay, 50 finally dropped The Lost Tape, his DJ Drama-backed mixtape, featuring the likes of Snoop Dogg, Eminem and 2 Chainz.
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Will ...

The 2012 BET Awards will be “too big,” according to this year’s host, actor Samuel L. Jackson. The veteran actor seems to be right, as The Throne, Jay-Z & Kanye West, received five nominations, while big performances the likes of ...

After collaborating with many artists for their projects, Big Sean has G.O.O.D. karma coming his way. Eminem wants to meet him.
Fellow Detroit MC, Royce da 5’9”, recently told Sean that the rap superstar has requested to meet him.
“I came up ...

**THIS STORY APPEARS IN ITS ENTIRETY IN THE MAY 2012 ISSUE OF XXL.
WORDS JAYSON RODRIGUEZ (@jayhovawitness) IMAGES SWIZZ BEATZ AND LEXI LAMBROS
Johnny Nuñez isn’t used to being in front of the camera. The famed rap photojournalist, who has shot ...